Dorothy Allison on the Election, Being Demonized

November 3, 2008

For me, the issue is, who can do the job—not the job of being president but the job of cleaning up after Bush and Cheney. The work that must be done to clean up the mess left after eight years of anti-government government is enormous, and as a lifelong Democrat, I am appalled that once again it will take a Democrat to repair Republican excess.

I genuinely believe that Barack Obama is the best person to take on that challenge—though he is, from my perspective, quite conservative—fiscally, socially. He is not, for example, what I wish he was—a strong defender of gay and lesbian rights—or even an advocate against what I fear is a frankly dangerous trend toward rolling back those laws and institutions established by feminist advocacy over the last two decades.

Do not mistake me. I am a radical feminist with strong socialist tendencies and a conviction that this nation has long neglected its poor and disenfranchised. I am exactly the kind of person the Republicans and John McCain demonize—the kind of person they accuse Barack Obama of being.